


the thirteen signs

by summoner_yuna_of_besaid



Series: thick skin, elastic heart [6]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Kairi & Aerith, Background Kairi & Tifa, Background Riku & Leon, Background Riku & Sephiroth, Family, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 04:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4990813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summoner_yuna_of_besaid/pseuds/summoner_yuna_of_besaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sora's home, but home isn't what it used to be.  He's unsettled and anxious on the Islands, perhaps unconsciously beginning to realize that something is strange and amiss... questions arise about the identities of people on the islands, and across the universe.  Questions which lead to answers Sora and his friends may not want.</p><p>What does it mean to be family?  Sora wouldn't know.  But he might just find out.</p><p>(Family fic, Leon and Sora and Cloud primarily, background Aerith, Kairi, and Tifa, and Sephiroth, Riku, and Leon.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the thirteen signs

**Author's Note:**

> This is more like a series of interconnected drabbles than it is one chapter. This is my theory for meshing Final Fantasy canon and KH canon together, taking into account the characters that exist in both. 
> 
> This story will make more sense if you read "a promise of wings" first.

# the thirteen signs

## IIIXIII

 

> ### I. they call him chosen

The keyblade doesn’t have any weight to it, anymore than his own hand or arm feels heavy to him on a good day.  It’s an extension, a continuation of his body he no longer knows how to live without.

The day it came to him was the worst day of his life; yet he can’t regret the Keyblade and what it gave him, what it eventually brought back to him.

The day they met, Leon tried to take it from him.  “Call it being overprotective,” The man would mumble at him later on before walking away, leaving Sora with as little understanding as he’d had before.

> ### II. they call him brave

He returns to the island and for a blessed moment everything feels right.  Kairi and Riku are here, and they are home, and everything is as it was – everything but him.  School is out for summer and the island orphans are thrilled to have three of their own back at the house with them. 

To celebrate they go out to that little island, the one they shared.  First stepping on its sands was surreal for him.  He’d seen it so many times in twisted nightmares and dark realizations.  Here it is pure as light, filled with the laughter of his friends, and he smiles.  Lifting his arms, he tears off his shirt, leaving himself in his swimsuit alone.

“Sora!”  There’s a pained gasp, a few violent curses.  The boy spins round, automatically summoning his keyblade, falling into a battle stance.  There’s nothing – no Heartless, no Nobodies, no threat.  And all eyes are on him.

His gaze drifts down.  A body is a tapestry.  Life weaves its design into it.  His destiny is woven into his flesh with every bruise and scar.  There’s the stab wound in the center of his chest from the dark Keyblade.  Burns from flame and from the darkness cover him, along with the rivulets of shimmery skin from lightning strikes.  More than a few slices and cuts from blades and energy cover him, along with the telltale signs of broken bones fixed and set, time and again, of large discolored bruises still healing.

He looks up; there’s no enemy.  There’s just him, and his friends, and there is horror and revulsion in their eyes. 

He does not wear swimsuits, anymore.

> ### III.  they call him young

On the island he celebrates his 18th birthday.  There is a cake, and candles.  He does not tell the nice older women who run the orphanage that he is not 18.  He does not mention the many months of time for which the Destiny Islands ceased to exist, nor the year in which he slept in a barely-existent state.

The people of the islands know these things happened, in a distant way, like civilians know when a war is happening far off.  It is not real to them.  He wants to keep it that way.

Smiling, he blows out the candles to great fanfare, and the expression becomes real as he feels Kairi latch onto him from one side, Riku pressing into him from the opposite.

The number of candles does not matter.  They are all here, and safe, and alive, and that is all that matters to him.

> ### IV.  but he fumbles in ignorance

The first time Leon saw him cast an Aero spell, the man practically stared in shock.

“What is that?”  It had been in Hallow Bastion, shortly before they’d finally defeated Ansem.

“Oh, uh,” Sheepish, Sora rubbed his head, shrugged.  “Something I came up with.  It’s like a shield sort’ve, but it’s made out of wind.  I mean it kinda hurts sometimes, the blowback is a chore but it’s better than being hit.”

“I saw that.”  Leon narrowed his eyes.  “I meant why the hell are you doing it?”

Sora blinked.  “So I have a shield?”

Leon stared.  “Why don’t you use barrier?”

More blinking.  “What?”

The man began to curse to deities Sora had never heard of, a hand pressed to his head.  “Who taught you defensive magic?”

“Merlin let me practice at his house, sometimes.”  Again, Sora shrugged.  “I caught on.”

For a moment, the elder man stared, before he spun on his heel, storming a few feet away.  Sora’s stomach dropped to his feet in horror as the shame burned his face.  He almost didn’t hear Leon’s next words.  “What?”

“I said I’m sorry.”  The man turned.  Sora’s mouth fell open.  “Everything has been – hectic, with the Heartless and you showing up out of nowhere.  It wasn’t handled well.  I thought – nevermind.  I should have taught you this.”

He said nothing else, turning to face Sora, determined eyes glancing up and down the boy’s small form.  The young man stared like a deer in headlights, unsure what to think or to say.  Finally, the elder nodded to the side.  “Come on,” Sora watched him walk.  “We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”  The man turned a corner down the hall, and still Sora stood gaping.

“You coming?”

The kid shook himself to life.  A grin sprang to his face as quickly as he took off after the brunet.

> ### V.  in the shadows of another

In math class he sits behind Selphie.  She’s gotten taller, her hair grown out more, but she’s still the same old hyperactive Selphie.  Sora sits, hand holding his chin, staring at her.  A ball of paper hits him square in the back of the head.

He knows what it is; turns and rolls his eyes at Wakka making lovey dovey faces at him from the back.  The other boy thinks he has a crush on Selphie. 

 “ _You’re sure that’s her name?”  Leon asked for the third time.  “Selphie Tilmitt?”_

_“Yes, that’s her, okay?  Why’s that so important?”  Frustrated, Sora crossed his arms.  He’d be more annoyed but he’s never seen Leon look so – taken off guard._

_The man hesitated, before sighing and storming off.  A few minutes later, he came back, holding a photograph in his hand._

_“Does she look anything like this girl?”_

_Sora takes one look at the image and his breath is stolen away.  “Holy shit.”_

Having turned, Sora takes a moment to look at Wakka, too.  There had been no picture, but the pixy girl Yuna had described Wakka to a t.  She’d tried with Tidus, but… at the name she’d burst into tears.

Sora turns again, Selphie in his line of sight, and he stares as if he might pierce her skin and puzzle her out.

_“How could this possibly happen?”  The little silver haired pixy asked.  Her red haired friend was busy comforting their third, who was shaking from sobbing._

_“Who the fuck knows?”  Cid sighed with a shake of his head.  “The universe don’t make no goddamn sense no more.”_

_“There has to be a reason.”  Leon insisted.  “This – can’t be coincidence.  For it to be his island, the Keyblade’s chosen, and these kids…”_

After class, he speaks to her.  “Hey, Selphie?” The girl turns.  “Do you like trains?”  She beams.  Confirmation of a theory.  “There’s a really neat one at this world called Twilight Town, if you wanted to go?”

After she readily agrees, Sora turns to see Wakka giving him a grin and a thumbs up.  He smiles back; let him think what he likes.

> ### VI.  so lost along the way

Sora turns.  “Selphie?”  The rest of their group, the Twilight Town gang, are getting ahead of them.  But the girl is lingering behind, eyes set on something in the distance.  Then, suddenly, she bursts into a run.

“Selphie!”  Barreling after, Sora turns the corner and runs down the path, to see the girl standing in front of Seifer, Fuu, and Rai. 

Seifer’s eyebrow is cocked, hands on his hips.  On either side, his friends are eying her up too, as his gaze darts over her.  Little Selphie, diminutive even beneath Fuu’s stature, has her arms crossed and is glaring up at them defensively.

“… do I know you?”  Seifer grumbles.

“… I don’t know!”  Selphie suddenly bursts out, as if defending herself.  But she still stays there, staring at him.  The same way, Sora realizes, he had been staring at her in class; as if before her was a mystery she just about had the answer to, if only she could reach.  “I think I do.  I think I dreamt you up.”

Seifer scoffs, even as Rai shouts nonsense about nobody being good enough to go dreaming up Seifer.  But before he can respond, she says, “I had a message for you.”

That makes him blink suddenly, eyes wide.  “I…” He frowns.  “I don’t think I’m the squad leader, anymore.”

Sora has no idea what’s going on.

> ### VII.  he will feel nothing

_“So… this Sephiroth guy is your darkness?”  Sora, hands behind his head, walked steadily along Cloud’s side.  “Like, for real?”  Cloud just glanced at him.  “Cause the same thing kinda happened to me, in Neverland – a heartless that looked just like me.”_

_Cloud glanced away.  “It’s not the same.”_

_Sora blinked, coming to a halt.  Cloud stopped a few feet further.  “How come?”_

_Slowly, the red cloaked man glanced over his shoulder. “He is not born of my heart.”_

_Frowning, the boy stepped forward.  “So… why do you call him that?”_

_Again he glanced away.  “I failed him.  He is consumed by darkness now, and it’s my fault.  So… he’s my darkness.”_

_Sora felt his heart tighten.  “… he was your friend?”  It tightened further at Cloud’s nod.  “Oh.  I’m sorry.”_

_Cloud said nothing, just turned and walked back to the coliseum.  Sora wanted to call out to him.  Wanted to ask, how did this happen?  How did he slip away?  What if you can still save him?  He wanted to hope, to believe there was always a chance._

_He didn’t speak, the questions caught in his throat, because he was afraid of the answers._

> ### VIII.  his heart will burn

Seven months after returning to the island, Sora leaves.  It’s hardly permanent.  It’s hardly the first time.  But something feels different in how easily he slips away, how little it hurts to leave.  It should feel like a betrayal, like ingratitude, but he is glad to go.

Leon’s waiting for him when the ship lands.  The man looks more nervous than Sora is, and the boy grins to reassure him.  He is a little nervous, but after everything he’s been through, this is hardly the worst.

The feeling doesn’t last.  He finds unwillingly heat traveling up his neck, nerves trembling under his skin.  There’s no reason to be afraid.  It’s just Cloud.  Nothing’s changed.

Right.

He enters the castle behind Leon, and at the first sight of a spiky blond head, can’t stop the catch of breath in his throat.  It could be true.  They both had that ridiculous hair, after all.  No one ever believed him when he said it was natural, that he never did a thing to it.  In fact, no amount of hair gel or brushing would make it stay down upon his skull, rebelliously stretching upward no matter what he did.  He’d never met anyone else like that.

Except for Cloud.

“As far as we can tell,” Leon begins when everyone’s gathered, “This was all manipulated by Kingdom Hearts, or the universe, if you want.  The will of the worlds.”

“Makes no fucking sense to me.”  Cid grumbles.  But he doesn’t object.  The evidence is right in front of them.

“Once, there were many Keyblade Masters.” 

Sora blinks.  “Huh.”  That’s not what he’s been told.  Not what Leon himself told him.

“I didn’t know, either.”  He shrugs.  “According to the King, there used to be a handful of chosen in every generation, meant to protect the people from the darkness.”

Sora could’ve told them he’s nothing special.

“But they all vanished more than a decade ago.”  Leon continues.  “It seems that, as the Darkness grew more powerful and more time passed without the birth of a another chosen, the universe grew desperate.  It tried to forcibly create heroes.”

“So, my friends…?”

“The best word for them is ‘clones’.”  Leon sighs.  “Selphie is a hero where I come from.  Seifer was, too, in his own way.  The others were all great people in their own worlds too.”

“So the universe recreated them?”

“Seems like.”  Yuffie, swinging her legs from her perch on the desk, says.  “It was trying to create people who might be worthy of the Keyblade, but it didn’t work out.”

“I don’t know.”  Cid huffs.  “Sounds fishy to me.  Your friend is younger then you, Leon, and this Selphie kid Sora knows is his age.  That’s gotta mean –“

“She was cloned before the original Selphie was ever a “hero” on my world.”  Leon nods.  “I hate to mention anything like destiny, but that seems to be it.  The universe picked people already on the path to be heroes.”

“Not all of ‘em ended up heroic.”  Cid grunts, glancing at the computer screen.  Sora follows his gaze. 

Detailed upon the screen is a list of DNA tests.  On one side, there are the children of the Destiny Islands and Twilight Town.  On the other, anyone and everyone Leon could think to test.  His friends, Cloud’s friends, everyone who appeared to have been “cloned”. 

“When the clones didn’t work…”  Leon continues, hesitating.  Sora can hear the nerves thrumming in his voice, and it’s unlike him.  It makes Sora almost as nervous.  “It – appears that it – whatever it is – Kingdom Hearts, I guess, tried… fusing the heroes.”

“Mixing ‘em up.  Like making babies with less of the fun part involved.”  Cid says.  Aerith rolls her eyes at his charming language.

“Wait, so like…”

“Two heroes.  The parents, in a sense, though not in any traditional way.”  Leon, sighing, points back to the screen.  Leaning forward, he scrolls down, just as Sora turns to look.

At the bottom of the page are two names, which have not one, but two other people listed next to them.  Perfect matches. 

Sora’s never had a mother or father.  He grew up without a word of them, without so much as a photograph or foggy memory.  It hasn’t really bothered him all that much, he had enough love in his childhood, enough care and companionship.  But as he grew older, he can admit it has been a nagging question in his mind, a curiosity he sometimes finds himself irritated by…

Eyes wide, he looks at his name on the list, and the names listed to the side of it.

Cloud Strife.  He’d already been told in the King’s letter.  There’s another name beside it.  Not one he recognizes, but it is seared into his heart just the same now:  Zack Fair. 

“Sora, look,” 

Aerith points at the name below his.  Riku.  He has a flash of memory from that morning, of when the boy had snatched the King’s letter and run off.  Sora hadn’t been able to finish reading it.  Had it mentioned Riku’s parentage?

He reads the names.  The first is Squall Leonhart, and he’s only half swallowed that revelation before he reads the rest…

Sephiroth Jenova.

“Oh, no.”

> ### IX.  to fallen hopes and dreams

He wants to be selfish about this.  The whole situation is entirely fucked up – to discover that the universe itself messed around with your DNA and stole it from people who didn’t even consent to it, that’s horrific enough, like something out of those sci-fi horror flicks Kairi loves.  But somehow it feels even worse, having seen the names listed as he had.

_Squall Leonhart..._

Since the day they’d met, Leon had been a mentor to him.  He’d done so much for him – trained him, fed him, housed him, gave him everything he had.  The words had never been said, but Sora feels it had been a silent understanding between them – that they were family, father and son, and nothing could change that.

Sora steps into the Secret Place, and sees Riku sitting on the floor.  His heart is caught in his throat.  He manages to swallow his feelings and step forward, sitting beside him.

“I always thought my fall into Darkness was just a mistake of my youth.”  Riku begins.  He’s staring up at the closed doorway, eyes narrow, somber.  “I was immature and reckless, like any teenager.  Right?”  Scoffing, he lowers his head.  “Or, maybe I was born with darkness in my blood.”

“No, you weren’t.”  Sora shakes his head.  “If Kingdom Hearts really orchestrated all this, would it really make someone who would turn to darkness?”

“But I did.”  Riku sighs, staring at his hands.  “And… so did he.”  He clenches his fists. 

“Not at first.”  Sora says.  Curious eyes turn his way.  “A while ago, I asked Cloud about it.  Apparently Sephiroth was a big hero back home, a long time ago.  Then some bad stuff happened… apparently he lost his mind or something.”

“Great,” Riku scoffs again.  “That’s so much better.”

“Hey,” Sora elbows him.  “Come on.  You’re only looking at half the picture anyway.  You’ve got,” He swallows.  “You’ve got Leon, too.”  Riku turns to him and Sora can see the understanding and sympathy in his eyes.  “He’s a great guy, you know?  A big hero back home and he’s never had a fall into darkness.  So, there you go.  Even if Sephiroth’s got darkness and so do you… you’re not all darkness.”

“Sora…”  Sighing, the boy turns his way.  “I’m sorry.”

He tries to ignore the way the ache in his chest throbs.  “For what?”

“I – know you and Leon have always been tight…”

“Hey, he would have taken care of any of us that way.  He’s just a good person like that.  I mean he took Kairi in too when we found her.  And he’d do the same for you.  He’s just – a really nice guy.”  The boy’s smile wavers.  “It’s not like he – adopted me or anything.”  Legally, he is an orphan.  They all are, wards of the islands.  He wonders if this will change anything.

 _Am I Cloud’s son now?_   He wonders.  _Does he even want me?_

He’s afraid to ask.  Afraid to be rejected.  Afraid to actually be wanted. 

> ### X. flowers in winter

Of the three of them, Kairi accepts her new “parentage” with the most grace. 

She arrives at Radiant Garden, enters the castle, and bumps into Leon first.  The man smiles tentatively at her, nodded to the room behind him, and left.  This gives her the space to enter and address her new ‘mother’ – Aerith Gainsborough.  Though nervous, she steps into the room, heart pounding, and upon sight of her, breaks into joyful tears.  It doesn’t help that Aerith smiles with her warmth and brightness shining, and opens her arms to the girl.

The second parent, also a mother (benefit of the magics of the universe) already has a close relationship with the girl.  Her trainer and mentor, Tifa Lockhart.  Sora watches them practicing as per usual, as if nothing has happened, as if the universe hasn’t shifted on its axis.  Two weeks ago, they were just mentor and student.  Now, they’re family.  They’re _blood_.

Isn’t that supposed to mean something?

Back on the island, all the normal kids acted like blood was the be-all, end-all of families.  Being adopted was nice, but it was like a second hand coat, a used product.  It wasn’t really yours.  You only accepted it because you had no other choice.  Sora always felt relief when adults came and went and left him, Riku, and Kairi behind, because he didn’t want a second-hand family, he didn’t want to be a second-hand child.  He didn’t need anyone but his friends anyway.

Now, he watches Tifa and Kairi laughing, talking, and moving together like they’ve done it for years, and he fears what it means that they have all found these separate families apart from one another, these people who are supposed to mean more to them, these “mothers” and “fathers”.

It could be worse, though.

> ### XI.  another 

“Are you okay?”

Selphie’s smile is weaker than it usually is.  “I’ll be alright.” Hands clasped behind her back, she looks to the sky.  “It’s just like… remember something important you’d forgot, something big, all at once.  A little overwhelming.”

Sora stares, unsure of what to say.  He thinks Roxas perhaps would be better suited to give advice in this situation, but the boy isn’t exactly around anymore.

“What will you do now?”

She turns.  “Hmm?”

“I mean…” He shrugs.  “Aren’t you curious?  Don’t you want to – know her?”  The woman, Selphie Tilmitt, is in some ways like a mother to this Selphie, if unknowingly. 

Selphie seems to think about it, then shrugs.  “Not really.”

Sora’s eyes widen.  “Why not?”

“Who I was then is who I was then.  But, I’m me now.”  She grins at the sky.  “I don’t need to go back to the past to find my future.  It’s already here.”

Sora envies her.  But then again, he doesn’t envy her at all.

> ### XII. the end of avoidance

After two weeks pass, Cloud approaches Sora in the library.

The boy’s taken completely off guard.  It’s been days of watching the blond vanish every time Sora’s entered a room, not that he blames him.  He hasn’t been looking forward to this, either.  He has no idea what to say or how he should feel.  Happy?  Upset?  Angry? 

Silent, he watches Cloud walk in, footsteps heavy and hesitant.  He glances around, looking for a place to sit, before taking a spot on a nearby table.  Sora, sitting on the second floor railing, starts to kick his legs back and forth. 

“Leon won’t like you sitting on the tables.”

Cloud smirks.  “Somehow I doubt he’d like you sitting there, either.”

“Yeah,” Sora chuckles a bit.  “He’d tell me to get down before I break my legs.  He’s like a mother – “ The words catch in his throat.  The implications hurt him, too close to a sore spot.  He turns away.

“Sora,”  The man’s voice is low, somber. 

“You don’t have to say anything.”  Sora spits out.  “I mean I get it.  You didn’t ask for me, you didn’t ask for any of this, so you don’t have to pretend okay?  We can just – keep going like we used to.  Friends, right?”

“Is that what you want?”

Sora doesn’t know what he wants.  He doesn’t understand what he’s looking for.  Why does it all hurt so much?

He hears Cloud stand up behind him.  A moment later, he’s leaning on the railing, beside Sora.  “I used to be a parent.”

The words pique his curiosity, in spite of everything.  He turns his head.  Cloud’s expression is sorrowful, but fond.  “A long time ago, back on my homeplanet.  A little boy, named Denzel.”

“He was your son?”  He wonders who the mom is or was.

“He was adopted.”  Cloud looks up.  “A war orphan, essentially.  I just – found him.  Or rather, he found me.”

Sora’s heart starts thudding in his chest.

“I never really thought of myself as a guardian.”  Cloud scoffs.  “I was screwed up in the head… then and now.  I could barely take care of myself.  But… finding him that day, asking for his mom and dad, clutching so tightly to my hand… I had to take him in.  My heart ached for his.  And from that moment, we were family.”

“I don’t know what you want from me.”  Cloud begins.  “I don’t think you need a father – I think you have one.  But…”  He sits up.  “I can feel your heart aching, too.  Like his did.”

Sora feels something well up in his throat.  “And?  Is your… heart aching?”

Cloud nods.  “I care about you Sora.  I – want to be part of your life.  Whatever part you’ll accept from me.”

Anything.  Sora leaps up and wraps his arms around the man tight enough to bruise.  The blond hesitates for only a moment before embracing him.  The touch brings fresh tears to the boy’s eyes. 

 _This is what hugging your father feels like_ , He thinks.

> ### XIII.  thus it ends

Cloud takes him down to Leon’s house.

The moment they enter, the brunet turns and his eyes widen in concern.  “Sora, what’s wrong?”  Cloud’s presence has added extra alarm; the man looks to him, fearful.  “Did something happen?”  He comes to kneel before the boy, looking over his red face and watery eyes.

“Just… some emotional talking.”  Cloud admits for him.  His gaze is warm and kind, and full of fondness for the kid.  Perhaps it had always been there, but there is something stronger about it now.  Sora recognizes the feeling – the feeling of belonging, of being someone else’s.  Of being family.

Leon realizes what the conversation must have been, and something in him pulls away.  “… oh.”  He leans back, stands up slowly.  “I – hope it was good.”

Sora’s heart tightens in his chest.  Is this it?  He trades one dad for another, no choice in the matter?  Leon is Riku’s now, and he just has to get used to it?  But he sees the man’s face, the hardness of it.  He’s had time to get to understand that face, and its expression.  He sees how the man’s fists tighten, his arms trembling.  He’s – upset.  Leon does not often get upset.

He wants to scream, wants to rage at the unfairness of all this, that the universe just gets to decide who his family is when the family he wants is right here and he can’t have it.  He cares for Cloud and respects him and is honored to be his son but Leon… Cloud may be his father but for the last two years Leon has been his _dad_.

He can’t say the words; can’t bring the thoughts out coherently and so he simply runs forward and clings to the man like he had Cloud not so long ago.  “Don’t leave me,” He mutters.  “Please?”

Leon stiffens.  “Sora… you…”  He glances, concerned, fearful, from Sora to Cloud.  “I’m…”

“Come on, Leonhart.”  Cloud chuckles.  “We all know you adopted the boy the day you met him.  He’s your kid.  No one is going to keep you apart.”

Relief floods his face and seeing it Sora feels the same feeling coursing through him.  He almost panics at being so happy – is this allowed?  Can he have them both?

“What about Riku?”

Leon’s eyes widen.  “I… haven’t spoken to him.”  He admits.  “I’d be honored to be Riku’s father but I don’t know if he wants to have a relationship with me.”

Sora smiles.  “He’ll come around.”  How could he not?  Leon is the best father in the world.

 _Well_ , the boy admits, _then again…_ as he lets go and Leon walks to the kitchen, asking what he wants for dinner.  As he chases after, he glances back to Cloud, and gestures for him to follow.  The man actually smiles at him.  Leon is the greatest, but he thinks Cloud could be a pretty great father, too.

 

 ~ fin ~


End file.
